Developed by Arzest
Published by Nintendo
*The Island can be a dangerous place for a baby*
The Story:
Yoshi’s New Island takes place immediately after Yoshi’s Island where a stork delivers twins Baby Mario and Baby Luigi to a couple in the Mushroom Kingdom assumed to be their parents. The opening of Yoshi’s New Island reveals that the stork had delivered the babies to the wrong couple. The stork reclaims the babies and sets off to locate their real parents, but is ambushed by Kamek in mid-flight. Kamek captures the stork and Baby Luigi, but Baby Mario falls and reunites with the Yoshi clan on Egg Island, a floating island that was conquered by Baby Bowser. Baby Mario can telepathically sense Baby Luigi’s location; the Yoshi clan agrees to escort Baby Mario across the island and rescue Baby Luigi.
The Gameplay:
Yoshi’s New Island is a 2D Platformer in which the player takes control of different colored Yoshi’s as they try to get Baby Mario across Egg Island through numerous levels to rescue Baby Luigi. Yoshi can use a selection of moves to take out the numerous enemies across the levels trying to kidnap Mario. First things first, Yoshi can attack enemies by eating them and turning them into eggs which can be used as projectiles to either aim at other enemies or at special clouds floating throughout the stages to get collectables. In addition to eggs, A new projectile has been added to this title in the form of Giant Eggs which allow Yoshi to not only destroy enemies but also destroy the environment around him such as Walls and Green Pipes. In addition to this the bosses are varied and as with all the Yoshi games, Something as simple as running into an enemy causes Baby Mario to end up crying in a bubble with a timer going down before he is taken. The timer for Baby Mario’s kidnap can be increased by finding stars throughout each level. Also added to the mix in this title is the motion controls which can be used when Yoshi is trying to get to another point in the level and must transform into a mode of transportation such as a Mine Cart or a Helicopter.
The Sound:
The music in Yoshi’s New Island is composed by Masayoshi Ishi who composed previous entry; Yoshi’s Island DS however it still sounds more like the original game throughout the levels and menu music. The most annoying thing in the game however is the most annoying aspect of every game and that is Mario’s crying as it goes right through you to the point of annoyance.
The Graphics:
The art styles of Yoshi’s New Island are brilliantly done with the levels and characters done in the styles of drawings and paintings made with oil paints and crayons. For the first time in the Yoshi’s Island series. Yoshi, Baby Mario and all the enemies are done with 3D models rather than 2D Cartoons. All in all the graphics are great for a handheld game.
Lasting Appeal:
Yoshi’s New Island has plenty of fun and enjoyable levels with plenty of collectables to get in each level and very fun bosses to take on. The art stylings are beautiful and like the original is so good its worth playing over and over however the campaign in all is actually pretty short.
Overall; Yoshi’s New Island is not as good as the original game however it is still a highly enjoyable title and one for Mario and Yoshi fans alike.
My Rating – 8/10
The Good:
The Bad:
Yoshi’s New Island is available now from all good retailers exclusive to the Nintendo 3DS. Thanks go to Nintendo for loaning the title & the assets used in this review. Be sure to let me know what you thought of the review in the comments section below and be sure to stay tuned to UGNN for all your gaming news and reviews and remember to follow us on WordPress, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, LinkedIn, Reddit & YouTube.
]]>Review by Matt McNamee